Parshas Bamidbar: Redemption of the Firstborn

Contemplating his status as firstborn

Last week, thank G-d, I gave birth to a beautiful and healthy son (bli ayin hara).  He is our first child and a son and therefore is extra-special.  In Judaism, there’s a special mitzvah called a Pidyon HaBen, or the Redemption of the Firstborn, that can only be done under special circumstances.  I am thrilled that, please G-d, we will be able to partake of this very rare and special mitzvah in just a few short weeks’ time.

So how fitting and special that it is in this week’s parsha, Bamidbar, that we find this mitzvah.  In it, we find G-d saying to us, “Behold! I have taken the Levites from among the Children of Israel, in place of every firstborn, the first issue of every womb among the Children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine. For every firstborn is Mine: On the day I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified every firstborn in Israel for Myself, from man to beast; they shall be Mine – I am Hashem.”

The “first issue of every womb” doesn’t mean literally the first child born to every woman.  There are some requirements:

• Must be the first child born.
• Must be male.
• Must be a natural birth. (No cesarean sections.)
• The mother must never have miscarried after the first trimester.
• Must not be a Kohen.
• Must not be a Levite.

The firstborn sons were the ones who were originally designated to perform G-d’s service.  Indeed, they were even more special to G-d because He specifically passed them over during the slaying of the Egyptian firstborn.  G-d chose to give them life when He was taking life away from others, for they were precious to Him.  However, during the sin of the golden calf, the firstborn failed him.  Unlike the Levites, who not only did not worship the calf but actively fought against those who were doing so, the firstborn sons were indifferent.  They didn’t live up to G-d’s expectations. They disappointed Him.

This explains quite a few of the above requirements.  Obviously, this would only apply to the first child born, not any subsequent children.  Only male children were killed during the plague of the firstborn in Egypt and only men sinned during the sin of the golden calf (the women actively opposed it), so only male children need apply.  And the Kohanim and Levites are already in the service of G-d, so they don’t need to be redeemed.

In fact, the Levites were the original “currency” of redemption.  The Levites replaced the firstborn and thereby redeemed them.  But G-d knew this was not a permanent solution because He could foresee that future generations of Levites would fall from the lofty spiritual heights of their forefathers.  Therefore, He instituted the mitzvah of redemption by payment, partially to remind the Levites of how their spiritual level had decreased over time.

Like many mitzvot we find listed in the Torah, the origin of this mitzvah is not necessarily a pleasant story. Nevertheless, it is a mitzvah and as such, being able to fulfill it is an enormous honor.  It is a relatively rare ceremony and so is even more special.  It is performed after the child has reached at least 30 days of age.  We are looking forward to performing this ceremony for our little boy in just a few weeks’ time.  Hopefully you’ll be able to join us!

Shabbat shalom!

Read more on Parshas Bamidbar: Into the Desert of Our Lives

Baruch HaShem, Rabbi Ben and I were blessed last week to welcome into our family of wandering Jews a brand new member! We were blessed with, bli ayin hara, a beautiful and healthy baby boy.  If Rabbi Ben is the Traveling Rabbi and I am his Roaming Rebbetzin, what will our little bub be? We are already getting him fitted for a backpack and hiking boots, although Rabbi Ben’s mum says we won’t need them for at least a few more months…

The bris will be held, Please G-d, tomorrow, Wednesday, May 23 at Nefesh Shul, 54 Roscoe St., Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, immediately following 7 AM shacharis services.

It’s been too long since I last wrote a post.   It brings me to an interesting realization: travel can be hard work, but it also guarantees a certain amount of leisure time.  In some countries you can spend the whole day just trying to get yourself from one town to another, find something kosher to eat, and find a place to sleep that’s moderately clean (relatively speaking).  You end those days exhausted.  Even on a day when you’re doing nothing but exploring and having fun, you collapse into bed at night as if you have just worked a long day.

So in travel I’m discovering that I sometimes take leisure time for granted.  The fact that I can sit down and write when I feel like it (even if I can’t always get internet to post them) is something I took for granted for far too long.  There’s a certain freedom to having no outwardly-imposed restrictions on your time.  Even if your days are full to the brim and very busy, you can choose to slow down if you want to.

My time in Sydney has provided me with more of a sense of stability.  Staying put for a while is a totally different lifestyle!  It has its benefits, which our style of travel cannot offer.  I have friends here and, after moving into an apartment this week, I have an idea at least of where I’ll be sleeping at night!  Sydney doesn’t offer the kosher food choices that America does (even in a 7-11 in the middle of nowhere) but it offers far more kosher variety than Peru or Jordan, Nepal or China.  It would seem that life is easy and routine.

But the truth is that even if you’re not actively on the move, you can keep travelling.  The key to travel is making the most of your time and your space.  When Rabbi Ben and I spent three weeks in Hampi, India, we didn’t have internet (I think I was online maybe 2 hours total in 3 weeks!).  During the weeks I spent in Pokhara, Nepal, I only had electricity a few hours a day.  But spending a longer period of time in a place doesn’t mean that you fall into a routine, not necessarily.  It only happens if you allow it to.

A few weeks ago, I was walking in Bondi (a suburb of Sydney) on a Friday night on my way to Shabbat dinner.  As I walked, I noticed that a front window of a house I was passing was wide open.  Inside, someone was watching television.  They were watching golf.  Now, no offense to anyone out there who’s a fan, but golf has got to be one of the most boring sports ever invented.  It’s even more boring than baseball!  Very little happens and what does happen, happens slowly, and I cannot but imagine that it is even more boring on television than in real life! (This does not, of course, apply to mini-golf, which even as an adult I still find insanely amusing.)

Anyway, there I was, walking on a pretty fall evening to a beautiful and warm Shabbat table with friends, and inside this house is some person wasting time watching golf on television.  I felt so bad for them!  I was celebrating Shabbat, the holy Sabbath, full of joy and love, and there was someone who was wasting time, hours they’ll never get back.

When I am old (please G-d!), I will look back on my life and say that I have done a lot.  That even if I stayed in one place for years, I never let myself fall into a rut, always sought out some new and challenging experience.  I don’t want to look back on my life and wonder where the years went… and then recall that I went to work all day, then came home and watched golf on television.

And you know what? The truth is that as I settle in one spot for a while, I am still the same expat, ever on the move.  The result is that I now have far less leisure time than I ever did when I travelled because my days and nights are full.  I still don’t have time for television.  And that’s the way it should be for all of us, whether travelling or staying put.  We should always strive to make our lives count to the fullest, no matter how we define it.  Whether you’re spending your days in prayer to Hashem or working on self-improvement or simply learning something new, always, always make your life count!

Today marks one year since my paternal grandmother ‘Phaga bas Kalman,’ past away. Time has gone bye yet it feels like only yesterday she was in the room smiling with us. There is something incredibly special and beautiful about a Jewish mother that even inspired the famous song ‘a yidishe Mama.’ The sweetness, the love and the caring displayed by a women who spends her life looking after her children and grandchildren while staying strong to G-d and her faith.

I have met many old ladies in the world, some in nursing homes and others on a bus or in a shop. It’s sad how many old people become bitter and angry as they continue to age.

To the women who is beautiful on the inside, she will grow more beautiful with every passing day. This was Grandma.

We love you and miss you, and hope you have found resting place in eternity.

As Jews we believe in the afterlife and that after the should has served its time here on earth it returns to its maker. Every year from after its transition from earth to heaven it moves up a level to a more refind spritual place. We celebrate on the anniversary of the day of the passing becaouse we know the soul is progressing.

The common Jewish custom and practice is to make a L’cahinm, a toast to the departed one and make some blessings over food. We will use the name of the departed and toast that their soul should have an elevation.

To celebrate Jewish mothers I thought to share the following:

“What their Jewish Mothers might have said”

MONA LISA’S JEWISH MOTHER:
“After all that money your father and I
spent on braces, that’s the biggest smile
you can give us?”

COLUMBUS’ JEWISH MOTHER:
“I don’t care what you’ve discovered, you
still could have written!”

MICHELANGELO’S JEWISH MOTHER:
“Can’t you paint on walls like other children?
Do you have any idea how hard it is to get
that stuff off the ceiling?”

NAPOLEON’S JEWISH MOTHER:
“All right, if you aren’t hiding your report
card inside your jacket, take your hand
out of there and show me.”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S JEWISH MOTHER:
“Again with the hat? Can’t you just wear
a baseball cap like the other kids?”

“The best & most beautiful things cannot be seen or heard, they must be felt with the heart!”

~Helen Keller

Over the last few weeks I’ve been working hard in editing a book that covers the first year of my travels around the world. It is an adventure book packed with stories about, mountain climbing, scuba diving, trekking but all with a Jewish twist. It’s roughly 150,000 words, a good sized book and will make an exciting read.

Will post more about this soon, please G-d.

Just found out about a pretty cool place when I was checking out an apartment to rent in Sydney. The guy showing me around the unit said he was leaving for Japan. I saw he had a bicycle and I’ve been wanting one, so I asked him what he was going to do with it when he left the next week. His explained how he had built the bike out of free parts at a place in Redfern/Newtown and he’d bring the bike back there for someone else to make use of.

So I’ve checked out the place online. It’s called the Bike Club and they call their project something like Cycle Re-Cycle Club. It is a place for people to drop off their old bicycles and where others can come if they perhaps cannot afford to buy a bike and would like to build their own from spare parts.

I think this is a very cool idea because it is in line with what I did for my Eagle Scout project. For those of you not familiar with an Eagle Scout Project, one of the requirements to earn Eagle Scout (the highest rank achievable in United States scouting) is to manage a service project totaling over 100 hours of work done by volunteers. This does not include the work you, as the Eagle Scout applicant, do.

For my project I organized the collection of used bicycles. Volunteers then fixed them up and we gave them to people in the community who could not afford to buy a bike.

Anyway, I hope to check out this place in Sydney and maybe build myself a bicycle… Maybe even a unicycle!

Speaking of unicycles, I’ve still been working on the project to unicycle 1000km in Israel. It’s been coming along and it looks like I will be joining with Save a Child’s Heart to fundraise for their organization.

For more about the Bike Club and Cycle Re-Cycle Click HERE.